My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 114 I can live without meat, but my loyal soldiers must have meat to eat!
That night, the Jinyiwei visited the homes of the officials who had submitted their resignations.

The Jinyiwei not only brought the resignation letters they had submitted previously, but also brought a detailed record of their various evidence of guilt.

When the officials saw the evidence, they were shocked.

Because if they are really guilty, they will at least be dismissed and investigated, and their reputation will be ruined.

Furthermore, given Chongzhen's bloodthirsty nature, it's possible that he could kill them all.
So, without exception, these people chose to withdraw their resignations and dared not mention the matter of resigning again.

The Jinyiwei naturally followed Zhu Cilang's instructions and burned all the evidence in front of them.

In this way, Zhu Cilang easily resolved the resignation incident.

If it were Chongzhen, it probably wouldn't be so easy!

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the next morning.

When the civil and military officials entered the court, although they still felt the shock brought to them by Zhu Cilang's dispatch of the Jinyiwei yesterday, they still tried to remain normal.

Moreover, after yesterday's purge of officials who had secret dealings with the Qing army and those who were involved in factional disputes, the atmosphere in the court has been completely renewed.

Officials have become more cautious in their words and actions, fearing that any slight mistake will bring about unexpected disaster.

At this moment, they finally deeply understood the precarious mood of officials during the Taizu period.

At the same time, a fact that cannot be ignored is before everyone.

That is, after Chongzhen returned from Xuanfu, he never appeared in the court and remained in the harem.

In the past, all the officials believed that Chongzhen was unable to attend court because he was ill. However, after a series of disturbances, they had already seen through Chongzhen's scheme!

To put it simply, Chongzhen was actually using the excuse of illness to hide himself in the harem to avoid direct contact with officials.

Then, through the hands of the crown prince, he secretly controlled the court!
The sophistication of their methods is chilling!

Compared with the Jiajing Emperor who was keen on cultivating immortals and seeking the truth, Chongzhen was even more cruel and resolute. He would confiscate property and exterminate families at will, causing panic among the people in the court and the country!
In the past month, as many as seventy or eighty officials and nobles had their property confiscated and their families exterminated by Chongzhen. If those who were executed before are included, the total number has exceeded eight thousand!
You have to know that this is more than 8,000 lives!
Among them are a chief minister, two cabinet ministers, three ministers of six ministries, three vice ministers and dozens of Ming Dynasty nobles!

This behavior is extremely shocking no matter which dynasty it is in.

At this moment, Chongzhen's image in the eyes of all officials had become unfathomable, and no one dared to underestimate this emperor anymore.

In this way, inexplicably, Chongzhen suddenly became the emperor that all officials feared.
Even comparable to Taizu and Taizong!
No one has yet to react, but the one who is truly manipulating everything behind the scenes is actually the seemingly harmless prince in front of them!

Of course, this is also the scene that Zhu Cilang is happy to see.

After the court session, Zhu Cilang was about to return to the East Palace when he was stopped by Fang Zhenghua.

"My Lord, I heard that the Brave Guards returned a few days ago. Do you plan to go visit them?"

Fang Zhenghua asked cautiously.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang's expression changed slightly, and he then remembered the matter of the Yongwei Camp.

If Fang Zhenghua hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten about it.

Just as he was about to go with Fang Zhenghua, another thing came to his mind.

"I'll go see the Brave Guards later. I'll go see my father first."

Zhu Cilang changed his mind and turned to walk towards Kunning Palace.

The Yongwei Battalion was the personal guard appointed by Chongzhen himself. After more than a year of fighting, more than half of its soldiers had been killed. The eunuch in charge of the seal died for the country, and the eunuch in charge of the command was seriously injured.

Faced with this situation, if Chongzhen did not personally express his condolences, it would obviously not be enough to calm people's hearts.

After all, the Yongwei Camp was equivalent to Chongzhen's personal army. They risked their lives for the court. If they did not receive the respect and care they deserved, they would definitely feel disheartened.

Therefore, Zhu Cilang planned to take Chongzhen with him to visit the soldiers of the Yongwei Camp and discuss the matter of rewards.

Before entering the gate of Kunning Palace, Zhu Cilang saw from afar Chongzhen sitting leisurely in the small garden, drinking tea and reading the newspaper.

Since returning to the palace, Zhu Cilang has fulfilled his promise and no longer let his personal guards guard Kunning Palace. Instead, he let his personal guards guard several gates of the harem. As long as Chongzhen did not leave the harem, he did not have to worry about what he did.

Because of the Xuanfu incident, Chongzhen had already let go of everything.

At this moment, he looked like he was not an emperor, but just an ordinary person who was happy to enjoy life.

He completely forgot about the disputes and intrigues in the court.

"Father."

Zhu Cilang strode over, bowed, and sat down opposite Chongzhen.

Chongzhen did not show any disgust, nor did he scold his rebellious son. He just nodded slightly and said:

"coming!"

The two sentences of conversation were just like a normal conversation between father and son, without any grudges.

Fang Zhenghua considerately poured Zhu Cilang a cup of tea. Zhu Cilang took a sip and spoke slowly:
"Father, the Brave Guards have returned recently. I would like to invite you to go visit them."

Upon hearing this, Chongzhen put down the newspaper in his hand and his expression became solemn.

Zhu Cilang glanced at the newspaper that Chongzhen had just put down, and immediately saw that the headline of today's newspaper was about the eight imperial merchants secretly communicating with the Qing army.

The current Daming Daily has formed a complete system, and there is no need for Zhu Cilang to personally take care of it anymore.

Xue Guoguan would occasionally go over to check to avoid any trouble.

In general, the current Daming Daily is almost the same as newspapers in later generations. The only difference may be that its coverage is not wide enough.

At this moment, Chongzhen suddenly said:
"You're right, I should go see them myself!"

When saying this, Chongzhen also had a look of emotion on his face.

Back then, Li Zicheng had captured several cities in succession, and the other troops were useless. In order to defeat Li Zicheng, he selected some elite troops from the Beijing Camp and the original Tengxiang Four Guards to re-form the Yongwei Camp.

Then let this team go and destroy Li Zicheng!

And this team did not disappoint him, and good news came from time to time.

However, the team's losses were too severe, and he couldn't come up with the money at that time, so he could only watch the team continue to suffer losses.

But fortunately, they finally came back!
At this moment, Zhu Cilang changed the subject:
"Before that, I would like to discuss with you matters concerning rewards and compensation."

Chongzhen nodded slightly:

"how do you want to do it?"

Zhu Cilang elaborated on his plan in detail:

"Leaders Huang Degong, Sun Yingyuan, Zhou Yuji, and Liu Yuanbin were each promoted to Second Rank Dragon and Tiger Generals and awarded 10,000 taels of silver."

"Admiral Eunuch Lu Jiude will also be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver!"

"Even though Bingbi Eunuch died in battle, he will still be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver. Let the Jinyiwei find his family, give the silver to his family, and then let his family inherit the position of Jinyiwei Qianhu."

"All surviving officers will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver each, those killed in action will receive a pension of 2,000 taels, and those disabled will receive 1,000 taels. Furthermore, the disabled will be given 5 taels of silver every month until their death."

"All surviving ordinary soldiers will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver, those killed in action will receive a pension of 300 taels, and those disabled will receive 200 taels. We also promise to pay the disabled 2 taels of silver every month until they die."

After hearing Zhu Cilang's proposal, Chongzhen was a little surprised:

“That’s a lot of money!”

Chongzhen knew that Zhu Cilang had obtained a lot of silver from the confiscation of his property.

Adding to the previous amount, Zhu Cilang now has a total of 150 million taels of silver available, not to mention those who have not yet returned from raiding houses in the south.

But then again, no matter how much money you have, you can't spend it carelessly!

Just asking for this would cost at least two million taels of silver. What a waste!

However, facing Chongzhen's concerns, Zhu Cilang shook his head firmly and said:
"Father, the Brave Guards are different from other soldiers. They are the emperor's personal soldiers. We must not be stingy with them!"

"I'm going to say something you may not like to hear. If the capital city is ever truly conquered by Li Zicheng or the Jiannu, these personal troops will be our last resort!"

"They can lead us through the encirclement, they can go through fire and water for us, with just a word from us, they can die for us without hesitation!"

"In short, we want to train them to be warriors who are loyal only to the emperor!"

"Treat the dead warriors with generous rewards!"

In ancient times, raising assassins was always a very expensive endeavor, and sometimes the assassins were treated even better than their masters.

The master can starve, but the assassins must never starve!

The master may not have meat to eat, but the assassins must have meat to eat!

This is because the duty of a death soldier is to fight for his master. As long as the master gives an order, the death soldier will sacrifice his life without hesitation!

Can you let such a person starve?
Can you make him shed blood, sweat and tears?

Of course not!
For such people, the welfare benefits must be fully guaranteed!

We must let them know that as long as they follow the emperor and are willing to work for him, they will have meat to eat and silver to earn!
Even if they die, their families will only get more money and better care, so that they have no worries at all!

Chongzhen was not a stupid person. He immediately understood Zhu Cilang's meaning.

Although it still felt a bit painful, he finally nodded in agreement:

"Alright, let's do as you say! They are all loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty and deserve such a reward."

Afterwards, Zhu Cilang ordered someone to bring a blank imperial edict. Chongzhen did not hesitate to write the imperial edict of reward directly.

This formal approach undoubtedly further demonstrates Chongzhen's majesty and sincerity.

After everything was ready, Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang left the palace together and headed to the Yongwei Camp.

It is worth mentioning that the Yongwei Camp was actually stationed in the city, so it was not far from the imperial palace, only about five kilometers away.

The predecessor of the Yongwei Camp was the Tengxiang Four Guards, which were originally stationed in four separate camps. Now that they have been merged into the Yongwei Camp, they are all stationed in the southeast corner of the capital.

When Chongzhen's carriage slowly approached the Yongwei Camp, the soldiers in the camp had already received the news and quickly straightened their ranks to prepare for Chongzhen's arrival. When Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang appeared in front of the Yongwei Camp, all the soldiers immediately knelt down and shouted:

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live the Emperor! Long live the Crown Prince!"

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live the Emperor! Long live the Crown Prince!"

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live the Emperor! Long live the Crown Prince!"

Accompanied by a burst of cheers of "Long live the team", Chongzhen looked at the team in front of him and his eyes couldn't help but become moist.

When the team set out, there were 10,000 people, but when they returned, there were only 5,000 people left, and many of them were injured, and some even had missing arms and legs.

Looking at these brave warriors who shed blood and sacrificed their lives for the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen's heart was filled with pity and respect.

"Everyone get up!"

Chongzhen shouted loudly.

The soldiers then stood up.

However, there was one person who remained kneeling on the ground without looking up.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang stepped forward and asked:
"Father asked you to get up, why don't you get up?"

The man seemed to recognize Zhu Cilang's voice and quickly replied:
"Replying to the Crown Prince, this servant Lu Jiude has an injury on her face and looks ugly. I dare not look directly at the Emperor and the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang said in a firm tone:

"Keep your head up!"

Lu Jiude had no choice but to raise his head.

There was indeed a horrible scar on his face. The scar started from his right eye, passed the bridge of his nose and ended at his left cheek, leaving a horrible scar on his face and his right eye was blind.

In just a moment, Lu Jiude buried his head in the ground again.

"My Lord, please allow me to go and keep vigil for the Emperor! I cannot stay in the palace in this state!"

"I will not be around anymore, Your Majesty and the Crown Prince, please take good care of yourselves!"

As Lu Jiude spoke, he was already sobbing uncontrollably.

Zhu Cilang looked at Lu Jiude in front of him and ordered:

"Pull your head up!"

Lu Jiude could only raise his head again, his only eye filled with tears.

Zhu Cilang shouted in front of everyone:
"I'm telling you! The wound on your face isn't a shame. It's your achievement, a testimony to the blood you shed for the Ming Dynasty!"

"From today on, based on this scar on your face, you will hold the position of eunuch commander of the Imperial Horse Administration until your death. No one will dare to compete with you."

"As long as you live, you will always be the eunuch admiral of the Imperial Stables!"

After saying this, Zhu Cilang ignored Lu Jiude's shocked look and looked at the other injured soldiers and continued:

"And all of you, the injuries you suffer are your own fault. If anyone dares to mock you with this, I will chop him down!"

"Furthermore, the Emperor has already decided that all those disabled in battle will be supported by the imperial family."

"Not only will each of you receive a large sum of silver this time, but you'll also receive two taels of silver every month. As long as the Ming Dynasty exists, you'll always have food to eat. The Ming Dynasty will never abandon you!"

When the wounded soldiers heard this, they were so moved that they burst into tears.

They thought that they would be abandoned by the court after being injured, and would only get a few taels of silver at most, and then live alone and helpless for the rest of their lives.

However, they never expected that the emperor and the prince actually planned to support them until their death and give them silver every month.

This was something they had never dared to imagine before.

At the same time, Lu Jiude finally reacted. The next second, he fell to his knees in tears, shouting:

"This servant thanks His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! Thank you, His Majesty!"

Then all the soldiers knelt on the ground and kowtowed to thank the emperor for his grace.

"I thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! Thank you, His Majesty!"

"I thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! Thank you, His Majesty!"

"I thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! Thank you, His Majesty!"

Chongzhen was deeply moved when he saw this scene.

He then waved his hand, and Wang Chengen beside him hurriedly opened the imperial edict and read it aloud:
"By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: The Brave Guard Battalion fought valiantly and lived up to His Majesty's grace. Huang Degong, Sun Yingyuan, Zhou Yuji, and Liu Yuanbin are promoted to Second Rank Dragon and Tiger Generals, and each is awarded 10,000 taels of silver."

"All surviving officers will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver each, those killed in action will receive a pension of 2,000 taels, and those disabled will receive 1,000 taels. Furthermore, 5 taels of silver will be paid monthly until the end of their lives."

"All surviving ordinary soldiers will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver each, those killed in action will receive a pension of 300 taels, and those disabled will receive 200 taels. In addition, the disabled will receive 2 taels of silver every month until they die."

When the crowd heard this, they shouted again:
"Long live your majesty!"

For a moment, the loyalty of the Yongwei Camp was skyrocketed!
This is how you raise a death warrior!

After arriving at the Yongwei Camp's tent, Zhu Cilang asked Huang Degong:
"General Huang, how many soldiers are still able to fight?"

Huang Degong replied respectfully:
"Your Highness, there are approximately 4,000 people."

Four thousand people?

Zhu Cilang sighed inwardly. The army of 10,000 people now has only 4,000 people left. The loss is too heavy.

Then he looked at Huang Degong, Sun Yingyuan, Zhou Yuji, and Liu Yuanbin with a firm gaze and continued:
"Listen up, I'm going to re-divide the Brave Guard Battalion into the Tengxiang Four Guards."

"Each of you four will command a guard of soldiers. Each guard will be composed of 3,000 soldiers. You will personally select them from the Beijing camp, the garrisons, and the border troops. I have only one requirement: they must be elite soldiers!"

"In addition to these, I have another 3,000 men here, who will form the Fifth Guard. From now on, they will be collectively known as the Tengxiang Five Guards. They will be stationed in various locations throughout the capital, totaling 15,000 soldiers."

"As for treatment, ordinary soldiers will receive a salary of five taels of silver from now on. If they encounter battle or are injured, the previous rules will apply."

"In short, my father and I will never treat you unfairly."

Zhu Cilang had long had the idea of reorganizing the Tengxiang Four Guards, and now was the best opportunity. His three thousand personal soldiers would also be dispersed to serve as officers in the Tengxiang Four Guards and the Beijing Camp.

After all, they were the ones who followed him in the rebellion, and their loyalty was beyond doubt. Breaking them up and assigning them to various places as officers would help him control the army!

When the people present heard this, they all looked surprised, and then looked at Chongzhen.

After all, it was really inappropriate for the prince to say this.
Seeing this, Chongzhen just smiled lightly and then said:

"The prince's meaning is my meaning, just do as you are told."

"Also, remember from now on, when you see the Crown Prince, you should treat him as if he were me. You must not disobey any of his orders."

When they heard this, they were all shocked and hurriedly bowed and said:
"My minister obeys."

In this way, Zhu Cilang redivided the Yongwei Camp and his own personal soldiers into the Tengxiang Five Guards, stationed in the four corners of the capital and near the imperial palace, responsible for guarding the safety of the capital.

He planned to train all these 15,000 people as his personal soldiers, so he naturally could not be stingy with their treatment.

Zhu Cilang also had plans for food.

He planned to adopt a model similar to the canteens of later generations, choose a place to build a canteen, and let the soldiers line up in batches to get meals at the canteen window.

Then after eating, put the tableware at the designated recycling point and someone will pick it up.

As for these disabled soldiers, if they are willing, they can be asked to participate in logistics and be given some extra money every month, which can be regarded as finding something for them to do.

He had already planned to provide these 15,000 people with 10,000 kilograms of vegetables, 6,000 kilograms of pork and 4,000 kilograms of beef every day, ensuring that each soldier could eat at least half a kilogram of meat every day.

As for the source of meat, he planned to buy all of it from the system store.

He had calculated before that if all the antiques and paintings seized during the house raids were exchanged for system currency, he could probably exchange for more than 15 million system currencies.

Adding to his original system currency, he now has almost 23 million system currencies.

The price of beef in the system mall is five system currency points per ton, pork is two system currency points per ton, and vegetables are one system point per ton.

There is no need to exchange food from the system. Although there is famine in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, there is no shortage of food in the capital.

In other words, the vegetables and meat needed by these 15,000 people every day would require about 20 system currency points.

The system currency he currently has is enough to feed these 15,000 people for more than 3,000 years, so he doesn't feel sorry at all.

Besides, once the trade between Abunai in Xuanfu and the Ming Dynasty officially begins, there will be a steady supply of cattle and sheep shipped over, and there will be no need to exchange system points at that time.

In a few years, when crops such as sweet potatoes and potatoes become popular, the surrounding people will be able to raise a large number of cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and other animals, and the source of meat will gradually stabilize.

There was no way. As he had said before, he intended to treat these 15,000 people as his own death squads, and their treatment must not be poor.

Of course, he didn't intend to tell Chongzhen this. After all, he didn't know how to explain the large amount of vegetables and meat that were moved out of the Prince's Mansion every day.
In short, this matter has been settled.

It was already afternoon when he returned to the East Palace. A guard came to report that all the officials involved in treason and betrayal and their nine clans had been executed.

More than five thousand people!
The eighty executioners chopped for several hours, and dozens of their knives were broken. The entire ground of Caishikou was stained red with blood, and the surrounding people fainted several times from fright.

But Zhu Cilang didn't care about it. In his opinion, these people deserved to die.

Now he is not an ordinary person, but the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and the future king.

So when he does things, he cannot be indecisive like others.

He also wanted to tell others through this incident that if anyone dared to have secret communication with the Qing army again, they would have only one fate, and that was to have their property confiscated and their entire clan exterminated, with all nine generations of their family being killed!
If we don't kill them all at once this time, there will be people who will collude with the Jiannu again in the future.

So in order to completely put an end to this kind of thing, Zhu Cilang had no choice but to take ruthless measures.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, another three days have passed.

On this day, a heavily armored cavalry force of tens of thousands suddenly rushed from the northeast, heading straight for the capital.
(End of this chapter)